摘要：To those familiar with the F.3d, qualified immunity needs no in-
troduction. The federal docket is filled with § 1983 civil rights litiga-
tion, and qualified immunity is a government official's first line of de-
fense. Despite its ubiquity, the doctrine is in a perpetual state of
crisis. Since the Supreme Court's seminal decision in Harlow v. Fitz-
gerald in 1982, the Court has addressed the definition, administra-
tion, or application of qualified immunity in at least twenty-four
cases.
2
Despite the almost annual ritual of doctrinal clarification, the federal reporters are crammed with dissents and en banc decisions
taking issue over the proper scope and role of qualified immunity.
This confusion is not accidental. It reflects a fundamental tension
between the immunity doctrine and the conception of law and legal
reasoning that lies at the foundation of the common law's adjudica-
tive techniques.
